Monday, June 4, 2012

I was 100% planning on jumping back on the blogging bandwagon with June 1st, and the first of the Reverb Broads 2012 posts. And then all of a sudden it was June 4th. I'm still going to participate, just in a short version: catch-up style.

June 2: What gives you nightmares?

I used to say flying, because I used to have nightmares (of plane crashes, naturally) for the week leading up to my flight. Then I was hired as the Graduate Assistant for the College of Aviation at WMU in 2008...and that went out the window.

Meet Parker (the cat) and Ellie (the dog.) I love these two animals, but unfortunately, I can't always take them with me. Periodically I have to leave them, either alone or with friends, and I can't say I've had the best luck in that. Ellie has slashed her leg open, been very sick, and had a lot of vet visits around the times of our vacations. Parker has been lost (in the basement it turns out) and also seems to hate us after a vacation.
I'm getting ready to leave them - with one of my students at the end of June - again, and I can't say that the nightmares haven't started. I generally dream about my Condo burning down (which is not very rational, but is what happens,) but it always stems from leaving them alone.

June 3: Who are your role models?

I recently had this conversation with a colleague. It seems that a lot of people have mentors and role models, and it's not really anything that I ever latched on to - not necessarily because of disappointment, there just weren't people that I looked up to over a period of time.

I do, however, look up to my mom. She moved from Olympia, WA to Fernley, NV (and now has settled elsewhere) with my dad (and my brother and my sister) to start over. They've started a theater company and, while they've faced their (unequal) share of challenges, they keep pushing through. AND, through all of that, she has also found the time to take time out for herself and work towards some personal goals that I know mean a lot to her.

June 4: What did people tease you about growing up?

To be honest, my memory says that this list is endless. I did not fit in (not that this should surprise anyone.) I was a musical theater kid, with an awkward birthmark and a weird voice. I also had a boys name - what is there not to pick on there? I'll work through this backwards:

When I was growing up, the common girls name was Sarah (I can think of at least 4 that I went to school with since elementary school, but probably more than that.) It seemed that the common boys name (at the time) was Alex. Unfortunately, my first name is Alex, and I'm not a boy. I got teased about this - AND there was a boy in my class whose last name was only one letter off from mine, so that made the teasing a little bit more intense.

Ever since I could talk, I've had a "unique" voice. In my adult life, I've had people ask if I'm sick (Nope, this is always how I sound,) tell me it's a turn on (that's rather awkward, and no you can't buy me a drink,) and hang up on me on the phone, only to call back and say they couldn't understand me. In my young life, I only remember wishing I could clear my throat and be done with it.

When I was born, I had a tiny pink splotchy birthmark on the inside-lower part of my left arm. As the arm grew, so did the birthmark. As a child, it looked like a rash (sometimes, if I'm cold, it still does.) I had people tell me they didn't want to play with me because I was "sick" because of a rash...a rash that didn't really exist. For me, it was embarrassing, because it would flare up when I was cold (sometimes turning a deep, dark red instead of the usual light pink), so I'd wear long sleeves for as long as I could.

This post makes me feel like I hated my childhood - I didn't. I had a wonderful musical theater company that embraced me (birthmark, weird voice, name and all), and I made some of the best friends I'll ever have through that. But...it still makes me worry about what my children will go through; as we all know, childhood is not the easiest...

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I was 100% planning on jumping back on the blogging bandwagon with June 1st, and the first of the Reverb Broads 2012 posts. And then all of a sudden it was June 4th. I'm still going to participate, just in a short version: catch-up style.

June 2: What gives you nightmares?

I used to say flying, because I used to have nightmares (of plane crashes, naturally) for the week leading up to my flight. Then I was hired as the Graduate Assistant for the College of Aviation at WMU in 2008...and that went out the window.

Meet Parker (the cat) and Ellie (the dog.) I love these two animals, but unfortunately, I can't always take them with me. Periodically I have to leave them, either alone or with friends, and I can't say I've had the best luck in that. Ellie has slashed her leg open, been very sick, and had a lot of vet visits around the times of our vacations. Parker has been lost (in the basement it turns out) and also seems to hate us after a vacation.
I'm getting ready to leave them - with one of my students at the end of June - again, and I can't say that the nightmares haven't started. I generally dream about my Condo burning down (which is not very rational, but is what happens,) but it always stems from leaving them alone.

June 3: Who are your role models?

I recently had this conversation with a colleague. It seems that a lot of people have mentors and role models, and it's not really anything that I ever latched on to - not necessarily because of disappointment, there just weren't people that I looked up to over a period of time.

I do, however, look up to my mom. She moved from Olympia, WA to Fernley, NV (and now has settled elsewhere) with my dad (and my brother and my sister) to start over. They've started a theater company and, while they've faced their (unequal) share of challenges, they keep pushing through. AND, through all of that, she has also found the time to take time out for herself and work towards some personal goals that I know mean a lot to her.

June 4: What did people tease you about growing up?

To be honest, my memory says that this list is endless. I did not fit in (not that this should surprise anyone.) I was a musical theater kid, with an awkward birthmark and a weird voice. I also had a boys name - what is there not to pick on there? I'll work through this backwards:

When I was growing up, the common girls name was Sarah (I can think of at least 4 that I went to school with since elementary school, but probably more than that.) It seemed that the common boys name (at the time) was Alex. Unfortunately, my first name is Alex, and I'm not a boy. I got teased about this - AND there was a boy in my class whose last name was only one letter off from mine, so that made the teasing a little bit more intense.

Ever since I could talk, I've had a "unique" voice. In my adult life, I've had people ask if I'm sick (Nope, this is always how I sound,) tell me it's a turn on (that's rather awkward, and no you can't buy me a drink,) and hang up on me on the phone, only to call back and say they couldn't understand me. In my young life, I only remember wishing I could clear my throat and be done with it.

When I was born, I had a tiny pink splotchy birthmark on the inside-lower part of my left arm. As the arm grew, so did the birthmark. As a child, it looked like a rash (sometimes, if I'm cold, it still does.) I had people tell me they didn't want to play with me because I was "sick" because of a rash...a rash that didn't really exist. For me, it was embarrassing, because it would flare up when I was cold (sometimes turning a deep, dark red instead of the usual light pink), so I'd wear long sleeves for as long as I could.

This post makes me feel like I hated my childhood - I didn't. I had a wonderful musical theater company that embraced me (birthmark, weird voice, name and all), and I made some of the best friends I'll ever have through that. But...it still makes me worry about what my children will go through; as we all know, childhood is not the easiest...